Bryn Cohn + Artists to Premiere New Work in Los Angeles

Constructing fully realized worlds of risk, reality and fantasy by exploring the edges of physical and emotional boundaries, Bryn Cohn + Artists, the critically acclaimed New York-based contemporary dance company, make their homecoming debut in Los Angeles. Comprised of unique collaborative artists BC + A will present a world premiere of HOME and the West Coast premiere of their most notable work to date Skin with two performances on May 6 and May 7 at the Los Angeles Theater Center (LATC) located in downtown Los Angeles.

Presenting an imaginative and ferociously physical program, HOME is an interdisciplinary journey rooted in familial dynamics and the pursuit of physical, emotional and spiritual manifestations of connection. Skin explores how to physically and metaphorically build a person in a continuous cycle of creation and destruction in response to social castes, gender, sexuality and political systems until the most authentic self is found.

Born and raised in Los Angeles and a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts in dance performance and composition, founder and artistic director Bryn Cohn explains, "I am ecstatic to experience this literal homecoming with our Los Angeles debut at LATC and in disseminating educational programming within the community. It is a gift and incredibly exciting to experience BC + A's rapid growth, now bringing our work back to the city where the journey began. We all look forward to expanding our bicoastal reach and sharing our vision with friends, colleagues, artistic enthusiasts and the greater Los Angeles metropolis."

HOME draws upon ritualistic and traditional processes to elucidate through interpersonal encounters, environments and the pursuit of self and collective understanding. Scenic design elements, such as commonly seen furniture, are interwoven into kinetic movement languages to portray the loss, challenge and celebration that occur within this family. Through continuously evolving structures that transform the space and the complex relationships developed amongst the performers, we come to understand that our concept of HOME is constantly shifting as we move through life. By examining utopian models of the "picture perfect" family in contrast to human realities, the work provides a lens into a universal concept that we can all access to reimagine and define our own notion of what it means to find home.

HOME is set on five dancers, each of whom abstractly represent a guest within the home. The original music by renowned composer Kevin Keller is contemporary classical intertwined with electronic music and rhythmic intensity and the lighting accentuates the sensitivity between the dancers as well as captivating structures and their transfigurations that occur throughout the evening.

Skin investigates how we physically and metaphorically "build" a person in a continuous cycle of creation and destruction in response to social castes, gender, sexuality and political systems. Featuring six mannequins, Skin creates an immersive world onstage as the performers cultivate their own identities in juxtaposition to the empty and emotionless physical forms. Acting as voyeurs in the space, mannequins become part of our understanding of what it means to be human, observing the entire performance but lacking the ability to fully participate. This intimate and risk-taking journey strips us of our fabricated spectacle and leaves us bare, in our own skin, to reveal a sacred truth about ourselves in conflict and harmony with our world.

Both works feature an original score created by Kevin Keller, lighting design by Tim Cryan, and costume design by Sebastian Arango.

Founded in 2011, Bryn Cohn + Artists is a contemporary dance company comprised of diverse collaborative artists. With a mission to construct artistic worlds of reality, fantasy and abstraction by investigating the edges of physical and imaginative boundaries. BC + A positions itself at the forefront of an honest dialogue about how human beings interact with, connect to, and isolate themselves amidst the complexity of our world. The building of a kinetic movement language, in conjunction with charged relationships fluidly guide the dancers into a compelling exchange of visceral and narrative concepts.

Hailed as "groundbreaking, primal, graceful, flowing effortlessly, surreal and supernatural" (Brooklyn Buzz), the company has presented their work throughout New York, Boston, Seattle and New Jersey including Danspace Project, the 92nd Street Y, 14th Street Y, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Dixon Place, Boston University Theater, The Martha Graham Theater, Judson Memorial Church, The Center for Performance Research, Abrons Arts Center, Baruch Performing Arts Center, Salvatore Capezio Theater, Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, and in collaboration with the contemporary art galleries Foley Gallery and Castle Fitzjohns on two site-specific performance series. BC + A has received awards and funding from the Alfred Z Solomon Charitable Trust, SILO Residency through DanceNOW and the FAR Space through the Field. The company was named Inception to Exhibition's 2006 Fan Favorite Winner to receive a fully produced show in March 2016.

Known for their educational programming and communal outreach platforms,, BC + A has engaged in residencies and master classes at California Institute of the Arts, City Ballet of Los Angeles, Gibney Dance (NYC), Nazareth College (WA), Peridance Capezio Center (NYC), Velocity Dance Center (WA), California State University Los Angeles, and Chop Shop Dance Festival (WA), among others.

Described as a "dancemaker who does not shy away from much" (DIY Dancer), Bryn Cohn graduated with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts in dance performance and composition. Cohn has been commissioned by the Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Billy Bell's Lunge Dance Collective (formerly of So You Think You Can Dance and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet), the fashion designer Betsey Johnson, Grand Valley State University, The Pushing Progress Contemporary Training Program, California State University at Fullerton, and The Youth America Grand Prix. As a sought after educator, she is on permanent faculty at Peridance Capezio Center, Greenwich Ballet Academy and for The Pushing Progress Contemporary Training Program, and has participated in master educational engagements at Broadway Dance Center (NYC), and Loyola Marymount University (CA), among others. Cohn, born and raised in Los Angeles, is establishing a bicoastal presence through this premiere and is currently working within different sectors from commercial to education to concert dance.

Starting out as a progressive rock guitarist, composer Kevin Keller moved to the piano while in high school, where a fascination with Debussy's impressionism yielded to wider interests in the textural experiments of Eno and the electronic music of Subotnick. His first work for string quartet, "Three Bagatelles," was premiered by the Kronos Quartet at the 1986 Festival of New American Music. During the 1990's, Keller worked as Principal Composer for San Francisco's Morrison Planetarium and has since received commissions from some of the brightest stars in contemporary ballet. Keller is also an accomplished film and television composer, creating innovative, emotional scores for documentaries, features, and advertising.

Bryn Cohn + Artists' Los Angeles debut take place on Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $32, general admission; $24 for seniors and students; and discounts for groups. LATC is located at 514 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013. For tickets and more information, visit https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/28125.

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